Louis Malle

 Louis Malle








RANKED:

1. Elevator to the Gallows (1958)


The story elements of Louis Malle's directorial debut, 1958's "Elevator to the Gallows," is not treading new ground. The tragedy of its amoral characters comes straight out of a bleak Fritz Lang work, the crime thriller elements combined with "wrong man accused" and "crime gone wrong" plot points are straight from a Hitchcock film, and there is even a storyline that seems reminiscent of Robert Bresson's "A Man Escaped." However, the innovation of "Elevator to the Gallows" lies not with the plotline, but with the crafting of this plotline through editing, cinematography, and iconic soundtrack. Taking elements of a melodramatic Hollywood crime noir and reinvigorating them with proto-New Wave concepts, Malle was able to construct a film caught between traditional cinematic conventions and a new style of modernist cinema. Miles Davis' improvised modal jazz score was just the cherry on top of these conventions that even modern film historians and critics consider even more important than the film itself. "Elevator to the Gallows" was a film that allowed for the transition between classic cinema and modern cinema and it stands as an important milestone in film history.

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